Complications: A Nikki and Nora story
by pprbckwrtr
Summary: An epilogue for 'The Beginning of a Beautiful....?


Disclaimer: I don't own the characters

A/N: I thought I had a little unfinished business in 'The Beginning.....' and I had a little bit of canon I wanted to mess with.

* * *

As Nora dozed in bed, trying to squeeze out a few more minutes of slumber, she reflected over the last four months and the complications that her new partner brought not only to her job but also her life. From the very beginning Nora had been attracted to Nikki Beaumont but the circumstances of their meeting had made it somewhat easy for her to fight the attraction. However getting to know the other women and then being partnered with her had shot that small resistance all to hell.

The two admitted their feelings for each other immediately but had decided to put the job first and to work on their partnership before they even considered anything further. Nora had a feeling it may have been a mistake but it wasn't like she could march into Dan's office and confess why she and Nikki couldn't be partnered.

They had actually made it two and a half months before anything physical happened and now only after six weeks Nora found herself with a major complication....she was in love. Although, surprisingly enough, that thought made her happier than she had been in a long time.

Nora stretched as she rolled onto her back, smiling when she found herself trapped in an intense brown-eyed gaze. "What are you doing?"

"Watching you sleep," Nikki answered honestly.

"Some may find that creepy."

Nikki reached out and brushed the blonde's hair away from her face. "And would you be one of the some?"

"Considering I watched you for a couple hours last night...I would say not."

"Hours?" Nikki asked with wide eyes.

"What can I say, you have a lot of beauty to take in."

Nikki gasped when Nora's hand began snaking along her thigh. "When we first met I would have never guessed you could be so sappy."

"I am a woman of mystery." Nora reached up with her free hand to pull her partner down for a kiss.

A sound from the other room had Nikki turning toward the door. "What was that?"

"Just Mister," Nora whispered as she gave Nikki another tug. The brunette accepted the invitation by shifting her body until she was lying on top of her lover.

The two women froze and their eyes locked at the sound of a knock, both gazes jerking when the door opened. "Hey Nora, Jimmy had to cancel the fish..." Bobby froze at the scene within the room. "Sorry," he stammered as he quickly retreated. "Sorry, sorry, sorry...."

"Fuck," Nora exclaimed as Nikki rolled off of her. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. Just kill me now," she cried as she covered her face with her hands.

"It'll be okay," Nikki tried to soothe.

"Maybe I could kill him," Nora muttered, ignoring the other woman's words. "You'd have to help me dump the body though. No, just kill me," she concluded as she grabbed a pillow and held it over her face.

Nikki pulled Nora's robe off the back of the door, wrapped it around herself and went out for damage control.

Bobby's pacing stopped when she joined him in the living room. "I am so sorry. I had no idea. Believe me if I had..." he trailed off and shook his head. "But I didn't, I mean I would have never thought..."

"Bobby," Nikki held up her hand to silence his ramble. "It's okay. Honest mistake."

He gave a nervous chuckle, "yeah. So is she plotting my death?"

"She may have mumbled something along those lines," Nikki teased, trying to calm the younger man's nerves.

"You know, when we were both still living at the house she came home late one night and found me in the backseat with Marcy Walker."

Nikki nodded, "little different."

Bobby visible swallowed, "right." He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked nervously on his feet. "So how long you two..."

Nikki gave him a shy smile, "I don't think that's a conversation she would want us to have."

"Right. Sorry."

"I know this puts you in an uncomfortable position but if this got out it could....complicate things."

"Yeah, I suppose you couldn't work together."

"Among other things," Nikki muttered. "But I want you to know that I really do care about your sister. Actually I'm pretty sure I'm in..."

"Okay." Bobby shifted, suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation. "Don't worry, I won't say anything. I'm just going to go out for a few hours," he said as he started toward the door. "Let you two get back to.....I mean, do whatever you were....ummm, bye," he said as he closed the door behind himself.

Nikki took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she turned and reentered the bedroom where she found Nora still lying with the pillow covering her face. She frowned as she flashed back to a conversation that they had about a month into their partnership.

--

_Nora glanced through the windshield as the rain poured down upon them. "Does it always have to rain on stake outs," she muttered._

"_Adds to the ambience." _

_Nora snorted. "This ambience I could do without."_

"_You and Reggie finished the car pretty quickly."_

"_Yeah." Nora ran her hand along the dash before she leaned back in her seat. "There really wasn't that much damage."_

"_Well you can hardly tell there was any at all."_

"_You should have seen it when I first got it, it was a real mess."_

_Nikki twisted in her seat, leaning against the door so she could look fully upon her partner. "You know you never did tell me about you two."_

_Nora looked out her window. "No, I didn't." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, still watching the house across the street. "Nothing happened until the end of our senior year. We were always really close and I think the idea of me going away to the academy, of being separated, brought things to the surface. It kinda both freaked us out and felt natural at the same time." Nora glanced to her partner. "Know what I mean?"_

_Nikki nodded, "yeah."_

"_We kept the change in our relationship hidden, pretty well I thought."_

"_But not well enough." Nikki figured._

"_Reggie's dad was a mechanic, owned a junk yard. She found the El Camino and talked him into letting me have it when I graduated from the academy. She had it towed to my parent's house and it was there waiting for me when I got home."_

"_Nice gift."_

"_Not at the time," Nora laughed. "It was a piece of shit."_

"_So you two fixed it up together?"  
_

"_She was working with her father and I was a rookie so we didn't have much time together and most of the time we did have was spent on the car. It took us months but we finally got it to the point where I could drive it and not have it fall apart on me. One day while we were washing it we got a little carried away with the water and my father came home and saw us."_

"_What were you doing?"_

"_Nothing," Nora said defensively. "Sorry. We were just spraying each other, dumping water on each other. Nothing that should have let him know anything about our relationship."_

"_But he did?"_

"_I'm not sure but," Nora paused for a deep breath. "He liked to use his days on the job as learning experiences for us kids. Especially after Bobby and I both joined the force. Anyway that night he told a story from his early days. There was an officer in another district who was thought to be gay, Dad said that he never admitted it but everybody was pretty sure. Late one night this officer was walking his beat and came upon a group mugging a woman, he gave chase, called for backup but it never came. The gang nearly beat him to death."_

"_Oh my god," Nikki breathed. "So he just told this story out of the blue."_

"_It was very educational."_

"_What did you do?"_

_Nora let out a sigh and looked at her. "I ended things with Reggie and we didn't speak for over a year."_

"_I'm sorry Nora."_

_The blonde shrugged. "Right or wrong it was the only decision I could make."_

"_So what changed between you two?"_

"_She started in the department garage and I worked up the courage to apologize. It took us a while but we eventually got the friendship back, she even helped me put more work into the car."_

"_Nothing more?"_

_Nora shook her head. "So much had happened and she wouldn't live with half her life hidden."_

"_You know things are different now."_

"_Maybe some things."_

"_Nora..."_

_The blonde shifted to look fully at Nikki. "Can you honestly say you're willing to live half your life hidden."_

"_We don't even know if we have anything to hide."_

_Movement from across the street brought an end to the conversation as they ran out into the rain to arrest their prey._

–

Nikki moved over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Hey."

"Do you need help dumping his body," came the muffled statement.

"He promised not to say anything but you'll have to talk to him." Nora grunted as she held the pillow tighter against her face. Nikki smiled as she pried it away. "Come on, you can't smother yourself. Your body won't let you and neither will I."

Nora blinked at the sudden brightness; she looked up at her friend, her partner, her lover, her.... "I love you but this isn't fair to you."

Nikki smiled at the admission. "Oh, sugar, I love you too," she said as she brushed her fingers along Nora's cheek.

"You shouldn't..."

Nikki pressed her thumb against Nora's lips to silence her. "We will figure this out together."

Nora kissed the thumb and then turned her head to kiss Nikki's palm. "You were right you know."

"About?"

"When we first met you told me that I would love you."

Nikki smiled brightly. "Well I am very smart," she quipped. "Now come on and get up, I'll even make you breakfast."

Nora reached up and grabbed the lapels of the robe. "Did you send Bobby away?"

"He pretty much rushed out on his own," Nikki answered. "Why? You have something in mind?"

With a tug on the robe Nora pulled her partner back into bed. "You complicate me."

"You are so sappy," Nikki laughed as she eased herself back on top of her lover.

* * *

A/N2: I know the end is cheesy, and in all honesty I can't stand Jerry McGuire, but once I got the bit in my head it demanded to be included.


End file.
